Interesting places in Africa

Africa is one of the most diverse places in the world. It literally has everything to offer everyone. Find out about some of the continents well known and not so well known places or tell us about your favourite spots in Africa. Visited any interesting African places lately? Tell us about them.

Located in Gambia and central Senegal and regarded as a shared heritage site between the 2 countries. The stones were erected around the eighth century on top of earlier graves to mark burials. There are ten to twenty four stones in each circle weighing up to ten tons. There are over 1000 stone circles, the biggest concentration being more than 1000 stones in 52 circles.

Also known as The Paris of Africa, Cote d’Ivoire (French for Ivory Coast) has great natural beauty, traditional cultural richness and beautiful beaches and national parks. Take a trip to the official capital city, Yamoussoukro. Côte d’Ivoire’s former president Felix Houphouet-Boigny lavished many gifts on his hometown, but the most spectacular by far is the Basilica of Our Lady of Peace, a stunning, full-size replica of St. Peter’s Basilica in Rome. The structure contains more stained glass than is found in all of France and is structurally bigger than the Vatican City. Yamoussoukro is perhaps the single most bizzare modern city on Earth. It is a large grid of paved streets and lights with almost nothing at all in between them and worth a visit.

The cuisine of Somalia varies from region to region and consists of an exotic mixture of diverse culinary influences. It is the product of Somalia's rich tradition of trade and commerce. Despite the variety, there remains one thing that unites the various regional cuisines: all food is served halal. There are therefore no pork dishes, alcohol is not served, nothing that died on its own is eaten, and no blood is incorporated. Varieties of bariis (rice), the most popular probably being basmati, usually serve as the main dish. Spices like cumin, cardamom, cloves, cinnamon and sage are used to aromatize these different rice dishes. Somalis serve dinner as late as 9 pm. During Ramadan, dinner is often served after Tarawih prayers – sometimes as late as 11 pm.

Considered to be one of the most photographed dunes in the entire Sossusvlei area, Dune 45 is so named because it sprawls about 45km from the Sesriem Canyon. Classified as a star dune and stretching about 170m to the skies above, the rich red color of the dune is caused by "rusting" oxide molecules contained within the sands. As the winds play across the desert and coastlines they shape the dunes into beautiful and intriguing formations. The view from the top just before the sleepy sun climbs up behind the horizon is magnificent and quite extraordinary. Although not an easy climb, the reward is well worth the effort!

The African Savanna is a tropical grassland that covers +/- 28 African countries from Guinea at the top of Africa to South Africa at the very lowest. The dry season lasts about 7 months when it gets 15 to 25 inches of rain and the rainy season begins in May and ends in October. The plant life ranges from 3 metres to 50 metres high with around 2 million large plant-eating mammals to enjoy them.